i heart fall

The last few years, I’ve generally had a love/hate relationship with the fall.  I used to love fall with my whole heart and soul.  Crisp air, leaves changing and crunching under my feet, warm sweaters, riding boots, hot coffee on a brisk Sunday morning, football.

My love affair with fall ended a few years back when my fall was spent tearfully trying to make it through one day at a time.  At that time, I had no capacity to appreciate anything that was happening around me, and became a pretty dull individual.  I went to work and came home.  I didn’t notice the beauty of the changing leaves or the way the clean cool air felt in my lungs.

I’m back to noticing these things.  I love wearing my skinny jeans, riding boots, and a large sweater to run errands on a weekend morning, as seen here:

Does anyone know where I can find boot socks like these?

Or decorating for fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving:

This would be beautiful as a Thanksgiving centerpiece.

If I were to have a Halloween party...

Or cooking up fall comfort foods:

I love all things mushroom.

I'm on a very strict diet, yes, but I could definitely make this with ground turkey and lots of veggies, and mashed cauliflower on top instead of mashed potatoes.

You can't tell me this pot roast doesn't look amazing.

I have an unnatural obsession with popovers.

Again, all things mushroom.  This sauce would be perfect on pasta or polenta.

These brussels sprouts just look delicious.

Mostly, I am back in love with fall.  I love that it is now socially acceptable for my nails to be so dark they’re almost black.  I love reminiscing about the fall.  I love getting decked out in my Bears apparel to either go to a game or go to the bar for a game.

I’m going to ISU for homecoming this year.  I’m going to walk the quad, and into the buildings I lived and worked in (the ones that are still there, anyway.)  I’m hoping to run into friends.  The last time I was down there for homecoming was in 2009, and I am very much looking forward to going back.  I was there in May for a wedding, but it's not the same when the campus is a ghost town, and also when it's hotter than Hades.  I much prefer crunching through the leaves on the quad in a big comfy hoodie, and maybe a hot chocolate in hand.

My home, 2003-2005.

Tailgating. Homecoming 2009.

Lastly, I got the new Mumford & Sons album, Babel (pronounced BABE-el, not BAB-el, like the Brad Pitt movie) and it is freaking fantastic.  This will definitely be my fall go-to album.  Expect a post about Mumford, as well as indie/folk music in general in the near future, as it screams fall.

Clothes:
Brown outfit here.
Black outfit here.

Decor:
halloween candy: here.
pumpkin centerpiece: here

Food:
Mushroom Crostini:
Shepherd's Pie:  here.
Pot Roast:  here.
Popovers: here.
Mushroom sauce: here.
Brussels sprouts: here.

six week body makeover

In 2010, I lost 30 lbs.

In 2012, I gained 30 lbs.

Today, I started the Six Week Body Makeover in an attempt to take this 30 lbs off.

This diet consists of: no sugar, no simple carbs (bread, pasta, crackers, etc.), no dairy, no alcohol, no pop or juice.

This diet includes: lean proteins (some fish [tuna, whitefish, halibut, cod, shrimp, scallops, crab], chicken and turkey breast), most vegetables (excluding corn, peas, carrots, beans), complex carbs (parsnips/turnips, potato, sweet potato, oatmeal, rice, brown rice, and rice noodles), and some fruits (grapefruit, berries, peaches, and strawberries.)

Yesterday I went to the grocery store, and spent about $50 on the majority of my food for the week.  I did not buy enough vegetables, so my plan is to make those for dinner fresh.  Everything else, I prepped, cooked, and packaged yesterday.

Here is what my meal plan looks like for this week.  Please keep in mind that this is in fact, a DIET, so yes, the portions are small and controlled:

Breakfast: 2 oz egg beaters and 1/2 cup spinach.  I made an egg beater "mug scramble" which is something I stole from the Skinny Girl, and omitted the cheese.  Next time, I'll add hot sauce prior to nuking for extra flavor.

Morning Snack:  2 egg whites (which I will nuke and douse in Frank's Red Hot) 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (from our garden, and thank God I LOVE tomatoes now.)

Lunch:  1 turkey Italian sausage (which is roughly 2 oz), 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup spinach and/or watercress (depending on which container I grabbed today.)

Afternoon snack:  1 chicken tender (seasoned with hot paprika), 1/2 cup brown rice.

Dinner:  1 chicken tender (seasoned with hot paprika), 1/2 cup brown rice, and there is baby bok choy in the house right now, so 1-2 cups of that.

Dessert (if I want it) 1/2 cup strawberries.

I am also taking a Yoga class with my mom, tonight is the second one of the 4 class session.  In addition, I hope to make it to the gym on a regular and consistent basis, 3 to 4 times per week.

we remember

Today, is a day for reflection.  It’s Tuesday, September 11, 2012.  Today, we reflect on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

Today reminds me a lot of that day.  Sunny, warm, blue sky.  Calm.  Except today is probably going to remain calm.  Tuesday, September 11, 2001 was chaos.

I remember where I was.  2^nd hour. Choir.  Linda McEachran.  Buffalo Grove High School.  Mac always had the TV on as students entered the classroom.  Another teacher came running in telling us to switch over to CNN.  Judging by the look on this other woman’s face, Mac wasn’t going to say no.

Smoke.  That’s what I remember seeing first.  Lots of thick black smoke.  We sat and wondered what happened?  Never once thinking it was a terrorist attack, until we watch the second plane, live.  That’s when idle chatter in the classroom stopped.  We all sat down.

Mac didn’t turn the TV off.  Instead, the fire alarm went off.  We all had to evacuate.  2^nd hour choir consisted of Freshman through Seniors.  We were all thinking like children.  We are being bombed.  I remember thinking we’d never been prepared for a bombing.  Not like our parents had, with nuclear bomb drills.  We were evacuated, and brought around the back of the building, which was even more unusual.  I remember having a conversation with still to this day one of my best friends, about what was happening.  Something had to be happening in our area for them to evacuate us in this weird way.

We weren’t outside for too long, less than an hour, because it was still 2^nd hour when we got back inside.  As it turned out, someone had burned something in a chemistry lab.

The halls were practically silent in between 2^nd and 3^rd hour.  When I got to 3^rd hour, Dassonville, the quirky humanities teacher who made his own clothes, was wearing the pants with lobsters on them, frantically pacing, on his cell phone, trying to reach family and friends in New York.  His normally frantic, sporadic attitude was exaggerated that day, almost to the point of scary.

After 3^rd hour, teachers were instructed to continue with class as usual, which was bullshit.  Some teachers complied, other’s didn’t.  The rest of the day after that point is a blur.

I remember wanting to go home.  I remember getting home and being glued to the TV.  I don’t think we ate dinner that night.  I remember my boyfriend at the time had to work.  I remember calling him after work in tears, terrified that the draft would be reinstated and instead of college, he’d be going to war.  He assured me he’d find some way around it.

The days and weeks following held constant reminders.  All air travel was grounded.  My dad traveled a lot for business (and still does.)  I was very thankful that he was not out of town that day.  I worried for his safety for a long time after that, every time he got on an airplane.  A few years ago, a friend of mine’s mom told her story to me over dinner.  I don’t recall how we got on the topic, but her and her husband had been overseas, and were stuck in Europe for days.  They were on a cruise ship and could not get in touch with their daughters.  As she told me the story, about how they were routed through Europe to get home, her husband’s company getting them special accommodations and transportation, I just began to cry.  She said when they descended into Chicago, the pilot made an announcement that they’d be flying past the Sears Tower, and she remembered looking out the window at it.  She said when they landed, the customs officers just let them go.  They were all so happy to be home.

Air traffic was grounded in the US for four days.  On the fifth day, we had marching band practice.  I remember a plane flying overhead… the first plane we’d seen in days.  We all stopped, and looked up to the sky.  We had been rehearsing “God Bless America.”  To this day, that song still makes me cry.

Last year, I spent 9/11 at the Bears home opener.  I’ll never forget, people in the stands complaining that we didn’t “get” a flyover during the national anthem.  I couldn’t have disagreed more.  A flyover is not entertainment.  A flyover is a tribute.  We are constantly on high alert, and never in the green with terror threats.  I in no way shape or form wanted our service men and women leaving their military duties to fly over a football stadium.  Not that day.

outdoor weddings

Ever since I was an adolescent girl, I never ever understood the appeal of an outdoor wedding.  Sure, flowers and nature and plants are pretty, but there are just way too many variables that go into an outdoor wedding.

What if it rained?

What if it was cold?

What if it was too hot?

What if my shoes sunk into the mud?

What if it was too windy?

These are just some of the things that I thought could ruin a perfectly good wedding.  I can have perfect temperature, humidity, etc. indoors.  I can find a venue that has huge windows overlooking a beautiful meadow where I can have my outdoor wedding, indoors.

Now, let’s not jump the gun… I’m not engaged or planning to be for some time. 

My recent visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden got me thinking about outdoor weddings.  Are all of the variables worth it?  The CBG is a beautiful venue for an outdoor wedding.  Even on the particular day we visited, we saw a wedding happening, and it looked like the skies could open up at any minute, it still looked beautiful.

There are many different places within the CBG to have a wedding.  They’re all expensive to rent out and close to the public, of course, but would it be worth it?  Now it’s got me thinking.

caution: crabby when hungry.

This is not a joke, and something I really do not pride myself on at all.

I turn into a five year old when I am hungry.

I get anxious and frustrated, and although there is a refrigerator *full* of food, I cannot find anything to eat.  I get even more anxious and frustrated.  Sometimes, I even cry.  Cry.  Legitimate tears, over being so hungry I can't contain myself.

Recently, as I mentioned in a previous post, my dad decided to try his hand at building his own smoker to make a smoked pork shoulder.  I had planned my day accordingly, as he had told us we would be eating dinner around 6pm.  I ate breakfast at a normal time for a day off, between 10 and 11... so brunch.  On the weekends and days off, I really only eat 2 meals... so, this worked out fine.  Brunch, dinner at 6, I'd probably have a little snack somewhere in between.

We got to my house around 3ish, and the little snack was had.  I made myself a half of a cheese quesadilla, they usually fill me up pretty well.

At six, I could've eaten.  At seven, I was hungry.  At eight, I was on the verge of a full fledged temper-tantrum because I hadn't eaten and no one had any regard for the fact that dinner was supposed to be at six. I was super duper cranky and irritated, literally holding back tears of hunger, and snapping at everyone around me.

Finally around nine, we ate dinner.  I was so hungry that I wasn't hungry anymore.  I ate barely anything, one corn on the cob, a bite or two of meat (I really hate smoked meats), and a spoonful of my mom's homemade baked beans.  Oh, was I steamed.

At least my mom had made delicious homemade creme brulee for dessert, which I inhaled later on.

staycation update.

Well, I got to do most of what I wanted to do.

On Friday, I had intended for Graham and I to go to the Cubs/Giants game, we had found tickets for $9.  As it turned out, he had to work for his dad all day, building a deck/patio situation.  I didn't mind too much, as I had mentioned, I booked an 80 minute deep-tissue massage at Mario Tricoci.

My boyfriend, being amazing as he is, called Mario Tricoci, and added onto my spa services as a surprise to me, a wax and mani/pedi.  What a sweet surprise, and my very first spa day!  I spent four glorious hours at Mario, getting waxed (which was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, and something that I could definitely handle again in the future.  The massage was heavenly, but next time I will go for a "signature" massage instead of deep tissue.  I was very sore for a few days after, even with drinking tons of water.

We did go to Buffalo Grove days... and Graham did win me a stuffed animal!  And on the first try of his first game.

My new buddy, who has yet to be named.

There was  A LOT of relaxing this weekend.  Saturday, we napped pretty much all day, and Sunday, we got up, went to breakfast (see yelp review here.) and napped some more.  Sunday evening was spent with Graham's family, celebrating his dad's birthday.  We went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, which I'd never visited, despite living my entire life less than 30 minutes away.  We walked around what is probably only a minuscule amount of the area, and even saw a beautiful wedding in progress.  It actually made me rethink my I'm never ever ever having an outdoor wedding philosophy, which is a story for another time.

We had dinner on the outdoor patio at the garden, which is an annual tradition for Tim's birthday.

Monday, we lounged some more, and made our way back to my house to spend some time with my family for my dad's birthday.  My dad decided to try his hand at building his own smoker (A la Alton Brown) and it was a miserable failure.  First, I don't like smoky flavored food.  Smoked salmon and smoked fish and bacon are about as smoky as I get.  Second, the timing of the smoking process was grossly underestimated. At first, we were to eat a six.  Then seven.  Then, who knows.  We finally ended up eating around 9pm, which for me, someone who gets extremely crabby if she doesn't eat, (again, story for another time) is just plain unacceptable.

Staycation

This weekend, I'm having a staycation.  I've recently finished school, and my boss gave me Friday off, helloooo 4 day weekend.

Things I've planned / would like to do:

1. Have my first professional massage.  My shoulders and neck and back in general have been horrible lately.  Stiff, sore, uncomfortable.  So, I have a $100 gift certificate to Mario Tricoci, and I intend to spend it, on 80 minutes of bliss... I hope.

2. Go to a Cubs game.  Found tickets on StubHub for tomorrow starting at $9.00.  How do you beat that?

3. RELAX.

4. Go to BG Days.  No, I won't ride the rides, but I will drink the beer, eat the food, listen to the music, and look at the crafts.  Maybe the bf will even try to win me a stuffed animal?

5. Do some shopping?  The VS Panty raid is going on you know...

Sunday is both my dad's birthday and the bf's dad's birthday.  I have no idea what is on the agenda for either... but I hope it gets figured out soon so there's no hurt feelings on either side.